


Between you, me and your books

by fanetjuh



Category: Throne of Glass Series - Sarah J. Maas
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, First Meetings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-30
Updated: 2017-12-30
Packaged: 2019-02-24 04:26:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,394
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13205940
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fanetjuh/pseuds/fanetjuh
Summary: Rowan witnesses Aelin being denied access to the library after closing hours. And all of a sudden he finds himself spending Christmas Eve watching her back while Aelin breaks in to get the books she was after.





	Between you, me and your books

**Author's Note:**

> This is written for the Sarah J. Maas themed Secret Santa on Tumblr

Rowan had his hands in the pockets of his jeans while he walked from the sport complex to his own dorm. Pearls of sweat covered his forehead after spending at least an hour with a boxing bag. That boxing bag wasn't capable of keeping him in shape, but after the winter break was over he would surely be in a far better shape than any of his teammates. 

Most students had gone home for the holidays, whether or not they celebrated. Here and there light was still burning, but most dorms were dark and would stay dark for at least two more weeks. 

Rowan would give a lot to be able to leave this place, to have somewhere to go. But he had no one. He had no family. And the only girl that had ever mattered to him had died a couple of years ago. Staying here on campus, where there were only a few Christmas trees and no overwhelming decorations, at least helped him to numb the pain and emptiness he felt during these days. 

It was easier to be here, than to spend those days with people who didn't know anything about Lyria. It was easier to be miserable on his own, than to be forced to play happy while muttering thank you's and this is wonderfuls to a mother of one of his friends. 

"Aelin!" A high pitched cracking voice echoed through the absolute silence. "The library is closed. I don't make exceptions."

"Come on!" A blond haired beautiful girl crossed her arms over her chest. "I only need a few minutes. I'll be in and out." 

"You should have come earlier. I've been open for at least 6 hours today without anyone showing up. It's Christmas Eve. I want to go home." The elder lady with grayish hair and a not so straight backbone anymore, at least literally speaking, walked past Aelin without even bothering to look over her shoulder at the girl she left on the doorstep of the library.

Rowan grinned. 

"What are you smiling about?" Aelin let her eyes linger on him and shook her head. "Do you think it's funny to leave a girl without books to read on Christmas Eve?" She stared at him, her fiery eyes almost looking straight through him. 

"I think someone who thinks about that past closing time had it coming." Rowan shrugged. "Looks like you're stuck with Netflix and study books tonight, just like everyone else." 

"I don't think so." Aelin curled her lips up into a smile. "She always leaves the bathroom window open." She raised her eyebrows slightly. "It won't be that hard to open it a little further and sneak inside."

"You're gonna break into the school library?" Rowan widened his eyes and dropped his jaw. "On Christmas Eve? Are you nuts?" 

Aelin giggled. "That's one way to put it. I need books. I asked for them politely. I didn't get them, so now I'm simply gonna take them." She paused for a short moment. "In five minutes I'll be out again and no one will ever know that I've been in there."

"Good luck with that." Rowan wanted to walk past her, but Aelin placed a hand on his chest. 

"Where do you think you're going?" She lifted her chin and leaned on the tips of her toes to be able to look him in the eye.

Rowan was bigger than her. He was also broader than her, but she didn't seem to be intimidated at all. 

Either she was very brave or very stupid. Considering the fact that she wanted to break into the library to get more books to read during a lonely Christmas Eve, he somehow suspected it was the first option. 

He had to admit that he liked the first option. "I was going home. It's Christmas Eve and there is a nice new movie on Netflix I want to watch." He didn't mean a Christmas movie, but that was something Aelin didn't need to know.

"Since that movie is on Netflix, it can wait five more minutes." Aelin pulled her hand back. "I can use your help." She curled her fingers around his wrist and started dragging him along towards the back of the library building. "If anyone comes, you scream." She positioned him next to the window and before he had the time to protest or ask if she needed any other help, she already disappeared through the slightly open window. It probably wasn't the first time she broke into the library. It probably wasn't the last time either.

Rowan shifted his weight from one leg to the other. He could of course just walk away and leave her here. The campus was completely empty anyway. No one would catch her breaking in. But somehow the fact that she would notice that he was gone did frighten him. He might have not been able to intimidate her, but despite her tiny posture she had managed to intimidate him. 

And so he waited. He waited a minute, five minutes, ten minutes. Half an hour later he was still standing next to the window and strangely enough he was getting a little worried. 

What if she had hurt herself? What if something had happened and she needed help? What if a bookshelf had fallen on her head? What if she had fallen down from the stairs and had broken a few bones? What if she was unconscious? 

Rowan shook his head. A couple of minutes ago he had still been intimidated, now all of a sudden he was worried about her. He let out a deep sigh and eventually he cursed. He couldn't stand the thought of doing nothing when something bad could have happened to her. 

Less than a second later he pushed himself up and forced himself through the open window that was actually way too small for him to fit through. He rolled his eyes when his foot landed in the toilet and clenched his fists to keep himself from turning around and leaving Aelin behind to rot wherever she was.

She had maybe told him that this window lead to the bathroom, but somehow he had thought she had not meant it this literally. 

He searched for a towel to dry his foot at least a little before he continued his search for the girl who had gotten him here in the first place. He could have been at home right now. He could have been having dinner right now. He could have been watching that newest action movie. He could have been warm and calm. 

Instead, he had a sopping foot because he stepped in a toilet and was now illegally breaking into the library because a girl he had just met and didn't even particularly like could be hurt or worse.

He opened the door leading towards a bright white hallway. He had never been in this part of the library. He had never spent much time in the library anyway. As a member of the football team he had the luxury of missing a few deadlines here and there and failing a few tests once in a while. Especially because without him, they'd lose each and every game they played.

He froze when he walked through the giant door at the end of the hallway and noticed Aelin on the floor surrounded by countless books. She had a smile on her face and an open book in her lap. Her eyes were scanning the words and her fingers were turning the pages quicker than he had ever seen before. 

"What the hell are you doing?" He crossed his arms over his chest and shook his head. "You'd be back in five minutes! I thought you fell down and broke both arms and legs!" He rolled his eyes and didn't even attempt to hide his annoyance. He had been waiting in the cold, on Christmas Eve, for her to come back so he could finally get some food and turn on Netflix.

And here she was, wasting his valuable time by reading the books she was supposed to steal instead of actually stealing them. "I can't take them all. I have to figure out which ones I want to take and which ones not." She shrugged, not even in the slightest bit bothered by his raised voice or his tensed muscles. "I don't want to break in again in a couple of hours because I took the wrong ones."

"Aelin!" Rowan raised his voice. Her name echoed all through the huge building and interrupted the absolute silence. "You'd be back in five minutes. I thought you were dead or at least severely wounded!"

Aelin closed the book she had been reading and pushed herself up. It was a miracle that she wasn't freezing after spending this much time on the ice cold floor. "Were you worried about me, Rowan Whitethorn?" 

Rowan swallowed. He didn't remember introducing himself to her, but on the other hand he shouldn't be surprised that everyone here on campus knew his name. "I was more worried about my Christmas dinner and that movie I planned on watching." He murmured. Maybe he had been worried about her. Okay, he had totally been worried about her, but that was not something he was going to admit.

"Come on! That dinner and that movie won't run away." She shrugged once more. "But, since you came in here. I won't have to choose anymore. I can take them all!" She smiled happily and Rowan let out a deep sigh. 

"Why do I get the feeling this involves me smuggling out most of these books and delivering them at your doorstep?" He spoke softly, but Aelin pressed the book she was holding in his arms.

"You guessed that correctly!" She kneeled down to grab some more books and when the biggest part of the ones she had selected was in his arms she took the last four and headed back into the bright white hallway. "Your foot is wet. What did you do with it?"

"I didn't know you meant bathroom window literally." Rowan murmured. His arms, even though they were muscled and well trained, were already protesting. But those books were a lot heavier than the average football. 

Aelin's chuckle was more pleasant than he had expected it to be. Hearing her chuckle was more pleasant than he had thought it would be. "Thank you for trying to rescue me from the big bad books." She looked over her shoulder and used the ball of her foot to kick the door to the toilet open. "Okay, I go out first. You hand me the books so they don't get damaged. Then you come out." Aelin didn't wait for Rowan to nod or say yes. She placed her books in his already full arms, climbed on the toilet and disappeared gracefully through the window. 

Rowan shook his head, but still did what she had asked. One by one he gave her the books through the window and eventually he pushed his big body through the small window too. He was kinda glad that his feet were safely on the ground again and most of all outside the library. 

Quickly Aelin placed a large pile of books in his arms again. "My dorm is just a few blocks away. It's not very far." She started walking and Rowan followed.

Somehow he couldn't help but wondering how he had gotten into this situation. He was the quarterback of the football team. He was the hero of the university. He was respected and idolized. And now he let a girl half his height command him around like he was nothing but a little puppy moving its tail just because she wanted him to. 

"A few more corners." Aelin's feet moved quickly. She had clearly done this more often, although most likely with fewer books. She turned another corner and another one and another one and eventually she stood still in front of a huge building. "I live on the third floor." She used her shoulder to push the door open and started climbing the stairs.

Actually Rowan wanted to give her the books and disappear, but he had no choice anymore. Under protest he followed her to the third floor and strangely enough he seemed more out of breath and exhausted than she was. 

"Don't mind the mess." Aelin placed her books on the ground and took the key from her pocket. She opened the door and lifted her books back up to carry them inside.

Her room wasn't even half as messy as his. Unless books counted as a mess. Her bookshelves reached the ceiling and the floor was almost invisible because it was covered by reading material too. 

Why the girl needed even more books was a big mystery to Rowan, but since he had wasted almost his entire Christmas Eve already, he decided not to ask her about it. He placed the pile of books he had been carrying on the bed and then he turned around to head back to the door. 

"Enjoy reading." He murmured while he walked past the blond haired girl. 

"Thanks." Aelin reached for his wrist and forced him to stand still. "For helping me out and for being worried about me." She paused for a moment and tightened her grip. "So..." She licked her lips. "I have more than enough food for two in the fridge." She paused for a moment. "And I do have Netflix too." She softened her voice. "If you want you can stay and we can celebrate Christmas together? You can watch your movie, I can read, we can eat and chat a little and..."

Rowan thought about her question for a moment. Spending Christmas Eve with her wouldn't be too bad. At least she didn't seem to mind that he was not in this cheerful Christmas mood. "Why not?" He shrugged.

"Great." Aelin tucked a strand of hair behind her ear after she let his hand go. 

"Great." Rowan replied.

"Well, I'll go and make dinner then. Just, make yourself at home, okay?"

"Okay." Rowan sat down on the bed and looked around. Strangely enough he had the feeling that tonight was the start of something big. And strangely enough that thought made him smile.


End file.
